Carton and box inverter



Dec. 15, 1953 P. BIANCHI ET AL 53 CARTON AND BOX INVERTER Filed Aug. 7,1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l BYMFZ,

.4 TTOENEV Dec. 15, 19 P. BIANCHI ETAL CARTON AND BOX INVERTER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. '7, 1951 INVENTOR. PETER B IANCH I JOHNQROTHWELL BY ATTOENEY Patented Dec. 15, 1953 UNITED STATES CARTON ANDBOX INVERTER Mass., and one-fourth to lumbia, Conn.

John F. Walsh, Co-

ApplicationAugust 7, 1951, Serial No. 240,732

This invention relates to new and improved cleaning apparatus for boxesand cartons and the principal object of the invention is to providemeans for cleaning boxes, cartons, etc., by inversion thereof andcollection of trash and detritus falling therefrom into a receptacleplaced for the purpose.

Other objects include the provision of a track in the form of agenerally vertical loop similar to a spiral, means to space the boxes,cartons, etc., entering at a feed-in station, a conveyor on an arc ofthe loop carrying the boxes, cartons, etc, upwardly on the track oneafter the other, a guide holding the boxes and cartons from falling fromthe track while inverted or at the top portion of the loop, a trashreceptacle to receive the contents of the inverted boxes, cartons, etc.,and a carry-off or discharge conveyor generally on the level or" thefeed-in station, 1. e., at the bottom of the loop.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of apparatus asabove described including a special conveyor support in the form or" twospaced bars on the arcs of circles whose centers approximate the centerof the loop, and in supporting means for the bars, in combination withan endless roller chain having spaced double fingers thereon to engageand move the boxes and cartons, the fingers straddling the bar on theactive or working pass or run of the chain upwardly on the loop, andpassing old the bar at the end of the active pass and onto the other barto continue downwardly on the inactive or idle pass or run to repeat theoperation and to continuously travel the boxes and cartons as aforesaid.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 isa View in side elevation of a machine according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation, parts being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view in side elevation of the conveyor arrangement;and

Fig. 4 is a section on an enlarged scale on line 4- of Fig. 3.

Boxes, cartons, etc., in industrial and commercial use are frequentlyre-used to cut the cost to the consumer in the distribution of goods.This is particularly true in the food industry, especially in bottled lqu s s as milk, bonated beverages, etc. Wooden and cardboard boxes andcartons are used to a great extent,

3 Claims. (Cl. 214-311) In! and all must be cleaned of trash, cigaretteends, etc, that inevitably find their way thereinto while the boxes andcartons are in the hands of the consumer. It is more economical to cleanand otherwise process the boxes and cartons continuously and in anin-line process from the receiving department to the filling, loading,and delivery point.

In illustrating the present invention, th nuineral it indicates afeed-in table of any kind upon which the boxes or cartons are advancedin uncleaned condition in end to end contacting relation. The boxes andcartons are fed into the table in any convenient way, not shown.

When the boxes and cartons emerge from the machine, they must be spacedin at least an approximate even relation to proceed to the bottleloading station, as will be made apparent hereinafter.

A. conventional belt or the like 12 transfers the boxes or cartons I toa roller or the like chain it having spaced pairs of box engaging andtraveling fingers I8, the latter contacting the separate boxes andpushing the same upwardly on a spiral or loop to cause inversion of theboxes.

A spacer device comprises a constantly moving stop member 2%? on thestrap 22 actuated in an elliptical path by a constantly driven eccentric24. The stop member is held vertical by a convenient guide comprising apin and slot, see numeral 26. The boxes or table it are arranged end toend and each tends to push along the boxes ahead. The stop member risesbetween the last and next to last box on the table and slows down thebox to the left in Fig 1. The box to the right has now reached the belt12 and is pushed thereby into a position to just be engaged by the nextfollowing pair of fingers l6. The spacer device and the chain are drivenin timed relation and have a relative motion set to accomplish thiseffect. The spacer does not feed or push the boxes, it shows the nextsucceeding box to space the same and to position the boxes correctly forpickup by the fingers I 8.

The chain It is arranged on an arc in accordance with a track 28 whichassumes the form of a loop or spiral. This track may be fabricated ofangle irons or like material, and the boxes are largely contained withinand guided by this track, which is open at the bottom at the top of theloop and thus causes the boxes to be completely inverted so that thetrash therein falls into a receptacle 36 provided for this purpose.

The track has guides 32 at each side to prevent the boxes from falling,see Fig. 4. The guides extend only approximately along the top half partof the track, while the latter is substantially complete in one fullturn, and the boxes slide down the exit end of the track as a chute at34. At this point, the boxes are still spaced but if desired, an exitconveyor 36 may be driven at a relatively high speed to further spacethe boxes for the loader. The conveyor 36 may be positioned verticallyoffset from the table I or the end of chute 34 according torequirements.

A suitable framework 38 may be provided to support the various parts andmotors, not shown, and this framework supports the ends of an arcuatebar 40 as at 42 and 44. This bar conforms in general to track 28 andguides and supports the active or working run of chain 16. When rollersare used, the will ride on the bar 40 and fingers 18 will straddle thebar, thus not only forming the arc of the chain but providing againstside whip. The inactive or idle run or pass of chain it comprisesanother bar 46 supported anywhere along the length thereof but bar 40 issupported only at the ends and does not interfer in any way with theoperation of the machine.

It will be seen that this invention inverts, spaces, cleans, andtransfers the boxes or cartons I4 continuously and with no attentionnecessary on the part of any operator. The apparatus is essentiallysimple but practical and foolproof and fulfills the objects of theinvention and a need long present in the industry.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we donot wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise thanas set forth in the claims, but what is claimed is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising a generally verticalspiral loop track, a. conveyor from the bottom of the loop extendingalong a side thereof upwardly on an arc to a point past the top of theloop, an inverted guide extending along the top portion of the loop toretain articles in the track, the guide extending well beyond thetermination of the conveyor so that articles fall by gravity down alongthe opposite side of the loop.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the conveyor is in a vertical planeand the spiral track is located in gradually offset relation theretohorizontally from a point adjacent the to end of the conveyor andproceeding down to the bottom of the loop in the direction of travel ofthe articles.

3. Apparatus of the class described comprising a generally verticalspiral loop track, a conveyor from the bottom of the loop extendingalong a side thereof upwardly on an arc to a point past the top of theloop, an inverted guide extending along the top portion of the loop toretain articles in the track, the guide extending well beyond thetermination of the conveyor so that articles fall by gravity down alongthe opposite side of the loop, and means to travel the articles at arelatively higher rate of speed from the end of the tr ck.

PETER BIANCHI. JOHN C. ROTHWELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,504,838 Rickard Aug. 12, 1924 1,583,035 Valerius et a1. May1, 1926 1,593,501 Martin et a1 July 20, 1926 1,945,758 Turner Feb. 6,1934 2,032,946 McHenry Mar. 3, 1936 2,532,594 Bentley Dec, 5, 19502,605,883 Thames Aug. 5, 1952

